A (very minor) bump in the road

I hope everyone is having a great week!  I had a nice (and fast!) 3-mile run with my childhood friend Lauren on Tuesday night and yesterday was my rest day (and yes, I was asleep by 9:00...it's inevitable that I'm turning into Brad during marathon training).  Laur and I been meeting up weekly at the Capital Crescent trail in Bethesda and it makes the runs so much more fun when you can do it with someone.  


So you're probably wondering what is the minor bump in the road and what is this post going to be about? Surprisingly (and thankfully enough), it's not my lower back!  FYI - about a year ago after really bad back pain following every run the doctor told me I have something called SI Joint Dysfunction which basically is the sacroiliac joint (which is next to the bottom of the spine) locking up after runs, which causes muscle spams and pain down my left leg and an insane stiff and painful back...so.not.fun.  Anyway, I don't want to get too into it because I'm happy to say that the SI joint hasn't been causing me any pain during this training (woo hoo!) . I think it's mostly because I've been icing after every run, which is likely reducing the swelling.


So anyway, onto another annoying pain that I've been having that isn't related to the back... All week I've had this crappy feeling in my esophageal area.  Whenever I breath in it it feels like a sharp stabbing sensation.  Now whenever I eat I can feel whatever it is that I'm eating hit the esophagus and it feels like razor blades.  At first I was a little worried that maybe I pulled something in my chest during one of my runs, as I've never had a pain like this before.  The more I read online the more I think it's heartburn, which apparently can be caused by running.  Has anyone ever heard of this before - running causing heartburn?  I've never experienced acid reflux or heartburn really ever before...I don't go overboard on acidic foods limiting myself to a cup of coffee a day, rarely drink soda and hardly eat anything too spicy or fried.  So the only thing I can think of is that this pain is actually heartburn and it's caused from running...which is super odd.  Anyway, I'm going to run tonight and see how the pain feels and hope it's not bad enough that I need to stop.  I'm also giving the doctor a visit tomorrow to see what he has to say.  I am envisioning the worst...no beer, no coffee, no spicy foods, blah blah.  But let's hope that's not the case.


The main reason I need to go see a Dr. is because we're on vacation next week.  Saturday morning we're off to (one of my all-time favorite places), Rehoboth Beach for half of the week with my in-laws  and then to Ocean City, MD for the second half with my mom, brother Nick, and our family friends. I can't wait as this is one of the trips that I look forward to most every summer.

Finally, lately I've found myself being very into motivational signs, quotes and phrases and sometimes they are what go through my head while I run.  I leave you with this one...simply because it makes me happy about being a runner and if you run, it should make you happy too.